Roads: Freight

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the road freight industry on the use of dual-fuel tracks to reduce carbon emissions.

Stephen Hammond: In July 2011, the then Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met with a number of representatives of the road freight transport industry to discuss the barriers preventing market uptake of low emission HGVs. Following this, a Task Force was established under the 2011 Logistics Growth Review to promote the use of fuel efficient, low emission road freight technologies. Also announced under the Logistics Growth Review was a low carbon truck and infrastructure trial. 13 projects were subsequently chosen to receive funding to trial alternatively-fuelled trucks including over 300 dual fuel trucks.
	Since joining the Department, I attended a meeting of the Task Force in November 2012 to hear the views of the industry on issues including alternatively fuelled vehicles.
	I met with the Freight Transport Association (FTA) in November 2012 on a range of issues including measures to reduce carbon emissions from freight.
	I met with UPS in January 2013 and discussed the use of biomethane as an alternative fuel for HGVs.
	In February 2013 I attended the Department's annual “Listening to Industry” event hosted jointly with the FTA and attended by over 100 representatives from the freight industry where many issues, including the Department's approach to alternative fuels, were raised.
	Officials are in regular contact with a range of representatives of the road freight industry on the use of dual fuel trucks to reduce carbon emissions.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of MARPOL Annex VI on the viability of vital shipping routes; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Last year, in response to concerns raised by industry, I invited shipping and port stakeholders to give substance to their concerns about possible modal shift and the viability of some services. In response, the UK Chamber of Shipping commissioned a study the results of which were published on 8 March 2013. The Department will carefully assess the study and consider its findings.

Shipping: Regulation

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which regulations applying to the maritime industry his Department has proposed to ministerial colleagues in the Cabinet Office for consideration as part of the Red Tape Challenge.

Stephen Hammond: Over 200 maritime regulations were examined as part of the Red Tape Challenge. A full list of these regulations can be found on the Red Tape Challenge website at:
	http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/themehome/maritime/
	The Government plans to make a public announcement on the outcome shortly.

Pay

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2013, Official Report, columns 775-76, on overtime, what the average cost of overtime per member of staff in (a) the Law Officers' Departments and (b) each of their arm’s length bodies was in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13 to date.

Dominic Grieve: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 4 March, Official Report, columns 775-76W, which contained information on the average cost of overtime per member of staff in the Law Officers' Departments. I am not responsible for any arm’s length bodies.

Fires

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number and severity of fires in industrial and commercial premises.

Brandon Lewis: Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 all those responsible for non-domestic premises are required to carry out a fire risk assessment and put in place adequate fire precautions to minimise the risk to life in the event of a fire. The Department makes available a range of detailed premises-specific guidance on fire safety. This is designed to help ‘responsible persons’ understand the risk assessment process and offers technical advice on a range of fire safety, measures which it may be appropriate to consider to deliver compliance. It can be viewed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-communities-and-local-government/series/fire-safety-law-and-guidance-documents-for-business
	Fire and rescue authorities are also required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework to have in place and maintain an integrated risk management plan. This identifies local need and sets out a plan to tackle effectively both existing and potential risks to communities. The integrated risk management plan enables each fire and rescue authority to tailor the allocation of its resources to local circumstances, such as where fire stations appliances are positioned, by evaluating where risk is greatest and determining its priorities in relation to prevention and response accordingly.

Housing: Armed Forces

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on housing for British forces and their families returning from Germany.

Mark Prisk: This Department and MOD continue to discuss matters of shared interest including housing for service personnel and their families.
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on 5 March 2013 the Regular Army Basing Plan and the return of troops from Germany, detailing the Government's intention to invest £1 billion in new and refurbished MOD accommodation.
	Service personnel and their families have already been given priority for Government's affordable home ownership schemes, including FirstBuy. Additionally, I have recently made changes to legislation to make it easier for service personnel to access social housing, and statutory guidance has been issued to councils on how their allocation schemes can give priority to current or ex-service personnel, for example using local preference criteria or local lettings policies.

Right to Buy Scheme: Cannock Chase

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether Cannock Chase district council has taken up the offer from his Department to help promote the Right to Buy scheme.

Mark Prisk: My Department has offered support to all stock-owning local authorities, including delivering a Right to Buy tenant roadshow in partnership with them in the local area. I understand that Cannock Chase do not wish to take up our partnership offer at this time. I have recently visited an excellent Right to Buy roadshow in Basildon and have seen at first hand the value tenants place oh receiving advice and help to explore home ownership further. I would encourage Cannock Chase and all stock-owning local authorities to consider the needs of their tenants and work with my Department to hold a Right to Buy roadshow.

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to reduce the regional differences in female access to (a) education and (b) healthcare in (i) Pakistan and (ii) Afghanistan.

Alan Duncan: DFID has played a significant role improving female access to education and healthcare in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last decade.
	In Afghanistan UK funding to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund supports the delivery of basic public services. Significant progress has been made: 57% of the population now lives within one hour's walking distance of a public health facility compared to 2002 when only 9% of the population had access to any basic health care. Almost half of all pregnant women now receive antenatal care and 2.3 million girls attend school, compared with virtually none under the Taliban.
	Supporting girls' access to education and women's access to health is a top priority for UK Aid to Pakistan. DFID has helped to more than double the number of lady health workers to 100,000 since 2002. In Punjab skilled birth attendance rates have increased from 33% in 2006 to nearly 60% and student attendance has increased by over 700,000 since 2011. By 2015 we will help to support over 2 million girls in school; prevent 750,000 women from developing anaemia during pregnancy; and make it easier for people to get skilled help from community midwives and skilled birth attendants.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of deforestation in India, Nepal and Bhutan to annual flooding in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.

Alan Duncan: The UK Government has not assessed the potential contribution of deforestation in South Asia to flooding in Sunamganj district. Specifically, however, we closely monitor Bangladesh's vulnerability to flooding and natural disasters and respond in areas of high vulnerability. In Sunamganj, UK support provided through the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme will deliver embankments, canal excavation and village walls to protect communities from flooding. Across Bangladesh, DFID's climate change and disaster resilience programmes will provide 15 million people with access to early warning systems for floods and cyclones.

Bangladesh

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will discuss with her counterparts in (a) India, (b) Nepal and (c) Bhutan the effect of deforestation on (i) Sunamganj, Bangladesh and (ii) other habitats and communities supported by aid provided by her Department.

Alan Duncan: DFID has regular discussions with partners in India and Nepal (DFID does not have a bilateral aid programme in Bhutan) on regional development issues. For example, DFID is working closely with the Government of Nepal through its Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Programme to address deforestation and illegal logging. The programme aims to increase the area of forest covered by local forestry groups and improve forestry and natural resource policies in Nepal.

Uganda

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how her Department is supporting civil society groups in Uganda campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Lynne Featherstone: Her Majesty's Government is committed to ensuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people around the world are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment. We are concerned about the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill being considered by the Ugandan Parliament and have raised our concerns regularly at all levels of Government.
	We are in close contact with Ugandan Civil Society Groups and support their efforts to improve Human Rights in Uganda. For example, the UK with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office playing the lead role on this issue has provided support for training, advocacy and the cost of legal cases related to the protection of LGBT communities' human rights.

Executives: Pay

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what strategies his Department has put in place to monitor top executive pay and bonuses.

Jo Swinson: The Government has no plans to centrally monitor top executive pay and bonuses as there are already a range of organisations which successfully carry out this task, such as the High Pay Centre, proxy voting agencies and remuneration advisers.
	Government reform of the way executive pay is reported on by companies will make it easier for these organisations and investors to monitor pay. Company remuneration reports will have to provide clear and comparable information and, for the first time, a single figure showing the amount each director received in a particular year. These reforms will come into force on 1 October 2013.

Higher Education: Admissions

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure children from less privileged backgrounds are not deterred from applying to university.

David Willetts: The coalition Government has been very clear about the importance of widening participation and improving fair access in higher education—all those with the ability should have access to higher education irrespective of family income.
	Under our student finance reforms no eligible student pays up front for their first degree. Loans are only repaid once graduates have jobs and are earning over £21,000.
	The Government is establishing a new framework, with increased responsibility placed on universities to widen participation. This includes arrangements for new annual access agreements and a new National Scholarship Programme. Universities plan to spend over £670 million in 2016/17 on measures to widen participation through their access agreements. To make sure that we are doing everything possible to widen participation and promote fair access BIS Ministers asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) to develop a shared strategy for access and student success which will include advice to ensure we achieve the maximum impact from spending by Government, HEFCE and institutions. HEFCE and OFFA are due to deliver the strategy in autumn 2013.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) 0800, (b) 0808, (c) 0844, (d) 0845 and (e) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) her Department and (ii) the agencies for which she is responsible.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not have any 0800, 0844, 0845, and 0870 telephone numbers for the public information relating to our agencies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Constituencies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has made to other Ministers in her Department on constituency issues; on what date such representations were made; and to which Minister each such representation was made.

Theresa May: I make representations on behalf of my constituents on a wide range of issues. It is not Home Office practice to disclose the details of MPs constituency correspondence to a third party.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on engagement with the European Cybercrime Centre operated by Europol.

James Brokenshire: The Government supports the creation of the European Cybercrime Centre. We will engage with the centre through the existing management structure for Europol to ensure that it is focused on the development of an approach to tackling cybercrime that supports member states, including the use of joint investigation teams to tackle cross-border cybercrimes, skills and capability development and best practice sharing, as well as being a significant avenue for the sharing of law enforcement intelligence with other member states. We will encourage the centre to engage closely at operational level with the new National Cyber Crime Unit, and with its equivalents in other member states.

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations the Government has made to Europol on the European Cybercrime Centre.

James Brokenshire: In the Explanatory Memorandum of 23 April 2012 relating to the proposals for a Europol European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the Government broadly supported the proposals. We set out a number of concerns relating to the detail of the centre, which we were successful in negotiating on with the Commission. Since then we have been working to ensure that the Commission and the Cybercrime Centre Project Board respect these conclusions as they develop the implementation plans for the centre.
	Europol has produced a blueprint, setting out how the EC3 will operate, and what it will do to support work to tackle cybercrime across the EU. We are currently considering our response to Europol.

Detica

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department holds a contract with BAE Systems Detica to provide support to the Communications Capability Development Programme.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 11 March 2013
	BAE systems Detica are contracted to provide support under three ongoing contracts as part of the Communications Capabilities Development programme.

Entry Clearances: China

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the visa system enables Chinese tourists and business people to come to the UK whilst retaining control of immigration; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The Government supports economic growth by delivering an effective visa service which processed over 296,000 applications for visas in 2012 from China.
	China is one of the UK's priority markets and our visa service is working well—97% of visas are processed within 15 days, and last year (2012) the number of visas issued to Chinese nationals was up by 5%.
	In December 2012 the UK Border Agency announced a package of further enhancements to the UK visa service for Chinese tourists and business. These changes which will be implemented over the next six months include:
	The introduction of shortened online application forms and streamlined requirements for Approved Destination Scheme customers (ADS).
	The establishment of a business network with dedicated embassy staff to assist businesses and investors with their UK visa requirements.
	A service for business travellers and ADS tourists which allows customers to keep their passport while their visa is being processed. This means that they can travel or apply for another visa if they need to thus reducing the time it takes to obtain two visas.
	A mobile biometric service which will be available for applicants who wish to have their biometric information taken at a location more convenient to them, rather than visiting a visa application centre.
	Priority visa eligibility which has been expanded to include Tier 4 students and those who have previously travelled within Schengen.
	Improvements to the online application process, including the introduction of help text in Mandarin.

Human Trafficking Ministerial Group

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Inter-departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking met in each of the last three years; which Ministers attended these meetings; and when the Group is next due to meet.

Mark Harper: Since the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group was refocused in May 2010 the group has met five times. A list of Members and attendees for these meetings is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			 Meeting date: 11 March 2013 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Mark Harper MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Oliver Heald QC MP Solicitor-General 
			 Helen Grant MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and the Courts and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			 Jo Swinson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment relations, consumer and postal affairs 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 Baroness Randerson Wales Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Edward Timpson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 Hugo Swire MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 Anna Soubry MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Mark Hoban MP Minister of State for Work and Pensions(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities(1) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for Crime Prevention 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 September 2012 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Mark Harper MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for Crime Prevention 
			 Helen Grant MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims and the Courts and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities 
			 Anna Soubry MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health. 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive 
			 Edward Timpson MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Oliver Heald QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities(1) 
			 Hugo Swire MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Mark Hoban MP Minister of State for Work and Pensions(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Stephen Crabb MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Wales 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 April 2012 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families 
		
	
	
		
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State, FCO 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Chris Grayling MP Minister for Employment(1) 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 David Mundell MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 Edward Garnier QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 11 October 2011 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Lord Wallace of Tankerness Advocate General for Scotland 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Edward Gamier QC MP Solicitor-General(1) 
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families(1) 
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Michael Moore MP Secretary of State for Scotland(1) 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive(1) 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive(1) 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government(1) 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Baroness Wilcox Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
			 Lord Freud Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Reform 
		
	
	
		
			 Meeting date: 17 February 2011 
			 Name Title 
			 Attendees  
			 Damian Green MP Minister for Immigration (Chair) 
			 Crispin Blunt MP Minister for Justice 
			 Kenny MacAskill MSP Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Executive 
			 Edward Gamier QC MP Solicitor-General 
		
	
	
		
			 Tim Loughton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families 
			 David Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 
			 Lynne Featherstone MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Criminal Information 
			   
			 Apologies  
			 Anne Milton MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health(1) 
			 Jeremy Browne MP Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office(1) 
			 David Ford MLA Minister of Justice, Northern Ireland Executive(1) 
			 Stephen O'Brien MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development(1) 
			 Baroness Hanham MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities 
			 Chris Grayling MP Minister for Employment 
			 David Mundell MP Scotland Office, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State 
			 Carl Sargeant AM Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Welsh Assembly Government 
			 (1) Indicates official level deputies present at the meeting.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from other EU member states have been (a) deported and (b) refused entry in each of the last four years.

Mark Harper: The following table provides the total number of enforced removals and those who were initially refused entry to the United Kingdom for nationals of the EU, in each year from 2009 to 2012.
	
		
			 Enforced removals and cases initially refused entry for nationals of the EU(1,2), 2009-12 
			  Enforced removals(3,4) Initially refused entry(5) 
			 2009 768 467 
			 2010 963 463 
			 2011(6) 1,293 558 
			 2012(6) 1,726 671 
			 (1) Nationals of the EU consists of 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. (2) Cases of initially refused entry at port do not necessarily relate to enforced removals in the same period. (3 )Enforced removals are where it has been established that a person has breached UK immigration laws and has no valid leave to remain within the United Kingdom. (4) Removals are recorded on the system as at the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (5) Initially refused entry relates to non-asylum cases dealt with at ports of entry. (6) Provisional figures. Figures may be revised later due to data cleansing exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. 
		
	
	Deportations are included in published enforced removals statistics which are either following a criminal conviction (foreign national offenders) or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good; the deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. It is not possible to separately identify deportations from enforced removals.
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of persons removed or departed voluntarily from the UK and on persons refused entry to the United Kingdom within Immigration Statistics. The data on removals and voluntary departures by type are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October-December 2012, tables rv.03 and rv.03.q, and data on those who were refused at entry are available in tables be.08 to be.08q from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

Police: Recruitment

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that graduates entering the police force as direct entrants are of the highest calibre.

Damian Green: The Government wants to attract the very best candidates into policing. We are currently consulting on the implementation of direct entry into the police following recommendations from Tom Winsor's Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions.
	While no decisions have been taken pending conclusion of the consultation, under any direct entry scheme candidates will only be appointed if they possess exceptional qualities, and have demonstrated that they are fully capable of exercising the powers and discharging the duties of the rank. Such duties must be carried out safely, professionally and in such a way as to inspire and enhance the confidence of the officers and staff in their command, and the public who depend upon their decisions for their protection.

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the first High Court judgment granting (a) a control order and (b) a terrorism prevention and investigative measures order for each individual subject to a terrorism prevention and investigation measure order was; and on what date each such judgment was made.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 5 March 2013
	Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) notices may be imposed by the Secretary of State for the Home Department following the grant of permission by the High Court (in urgent cases permission may be granted retrospectively), and are then subject to a full High Court review.
	The proceedings to grant permission to impose a TPIM notice, as previously for control orders, are ex parte and are therefore not in the public domain. After a TPIM notice has been served, this information may form part of the subsequent High Court review. However, for operational reasons, this might not always be the case.

Agricultural Wages Board

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 371W, on Agricultural Wages Board, how many of those who responded to the consultation requested anonymity and on what basis; how long his Department spent on examining responses to the consultation; and what steps he is taking to improve the transparency of future departmental consultations.

David Heath: There were 19 responses to the consultation, which either requested confidentiality or were anonymous.
	The consultation exercise commenced on 16 October last year and we began analysing the responses as soon as they were received. A final decision on the future of the board was not taken until all the responses had been properly analysed.
	We are satisfied that the consultation was fair and transparent.

Crayfish: Pembrokeshire

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many licences the Environment Agency has issued for crayfish trapping in Pembrokeshire in the last three years.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency has not issued any authorisations for crayfish trapping in this area in the last three years.
	One application was received in 2010. This was later withdrawn by the applicant because there were no crayfish present in the river they had applied to fish. There were no applications received in 2011 or 2012.
	The data presented is from the area in which Pembrokeshire sits; these areas are defined by catchment and not county boundaries.

Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the economic benefits of (a) individual marine conservation zones, (b) an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas and (c) marine biodiversity in UK seas.

Richard Benyon: The UK marine environment provides a range of benefits which can be assessed in terms of ecosystem services. These are described in the National Ecosystem Assessment (2011).
	The Impact Assessment accompanying the consultation on the designation of Marine Conservation Zones launched in December 2012 provides an overview of potential increases in ecosystem services which could be attributed to designation of MCZs. These potential increases could include:'
	fish populations and the condition of marine habitats and species generally will benefit from greater protection and reduced sea bed disturbance,
	nature-based recreation activities (diving, angling, bird watching) can benefit from enhanced user experiences,
	protection of marine resources will benefit research and education and improve understanding of the long-term impacts of human activities on marine ecosystems,
	many people will also gain satisfaction from knowing that rare, threatened and representative marine species, habitats and features of geological or geomorphological interest are being conserved for current and future generations.
	These benefits cannot be readily quantified and the majority are not traded, so cannot be easily valued. Further work is taking place to advance the evidence base, including a DEFRA commissioned project on the benefits of benthic habitats as well as National Ecosystem Assessment Follow-on work.

Fisheries: Protection

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for Fisheries Protection vessels; and whether his Department has discussed the future of such vessels with (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) the UK Border Agency and (c) the Home Department.

Richard Benyon: The Marine Management Organisation is an NDPB sponsored by DEFRA and four other Government Departments. It has a remit as the regulator of marine activity including fishing in English waters. The Royal Navy has an agreement in place to provide support to the MMO in meeting its regulatory duties, including monitoring fishing activity, through its fishery protection vessels. This agreement expires on 31 March 2013. A revised agreement covering 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2016 is nearing completion.
	The current overall mission of the RN Fisheries Protection Squadron is to patrol the fishery limits of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In respect of defining future surveillance requirements, a study is currently being undertaken collaboratively by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on behalf of the cross-Government Maritime Security Oversight Group. It will consider the cross-government coastal and offshore maritime enforcement, surveillance and interdiction capability required to counter both present and future UK maritime risks. This work is currently scheduled to report by June 2013. All relevant bodies will continue to discuss how best to manage risks to UK maritime interests.

Flood Control

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on partnership funding expenditure on flood defence in each of the last three years; and how much is planned to be spent in such fashion in each of the next three years.

Richard Benyon: The following tables summarise the total external contributions that supplemented Government spending on flood and coastal risk management projects in England in the previous three years and the amounts that are anticipated in each of the next three years.
	In 2012-13, the Environment Agency updated the flood and coastal risk management projects programme to reflect the new Partnership Funding approach. Partnership Funding clarifies what level of investment communities can expect so that they can secure funding from other sources to allow schemes to go ahead. It therefore gives local people more choice in how their community is protected as well as a method by which taxpayer funding can be spread further and achieve more.
	The figures for the financial years up to 2011-12 represent the total amounts spent.
	The figures for 2012-13 onwards are current best estimates of the amounts to be spent, based on expected contributions. They are subject to change based on final scheme outturns and final negotiations with all partners.
	None of the figures quoted include local levy income from Regional Flood and Coastal Committees.
	
		
			 Financial year External contributions spent in England (£ million) 
			 2009-10 4.0 
			 2010-11 5.0 
			 2011-12 5.4 
		
	
	
		
			 Financial year Expected spend in England (£ million) 
			 2012-13 11.6 
			 2013-14 58.0 
			 2014-15 73.0

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he intends to reply to the letter dated 22 January 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr R Butler.

Richard Benyon: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), replied to this letter on 12 March 2013.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to respond to the recommendations of the Environmental Audit Committee regarding long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Richard Benyon: The Government submitted its response to the Environmental Audit Committee's report of its inquiry into wildlife crime, including on the recommendations relating to the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, on 8 March. The Committee will publish the response in due course.

Polar Bears: Conservation

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made in support of a vote by the EU to introduce a ban on polar bear products at the CITES conference in Bangkok.

Richard Benyon: The UK supports greater protection for the polar bear under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This issue is being discussed at the 16(th) meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES (CoP16), currently taking place in Bangkok.
	EU member states take a common position at Conferences of the Parties on proposals to amend the level of protection afforded to species. EU member states abstained when a proposal by the United States was put to a vote in Committee on 7 March. A compromise proposal by the European Union failed to achieve the required two thirds majority on the same date. The matter may be re-opened in plenary towards the end of the Conference.

Scallops

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the reporting of cumulative Western Waters' (WW) scalloping activity to the EC for December 2012 of 3,523,130 KWD and November 2012 of 3,015,135 KWD and pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2013, Official Report, columns 741-2W, on scallops, that the WW scalloping fleet used 141,858 KWD in December 2012, what proportion of the balance of the increase reported for December 2012 was due to late reporting of activity for (a) November, (b) October, (c) September, (d) August, (e) July, (f) June, (g) May, (h) April, (i) March, (j) February and (k) January 2012.

Richard Benyon: Of the 507,995 KW days of additional fishing effort included in the data returns submitted to the Commission as part of the return for December 2012, submitted on 15 January 2013, 141,858 KW days related to fishing effort in December 2012. The remaining 366,137 KW days related to some instances of late reporting of activity, but also to other factors such as the completion of investigations into any issues related to data received by fisheries administrations. The proportion of this effort related to the other months of 2012 is given in the following table. As shown in the table, of the additional effort related to the other months; 1% was from effort used in June, 25% was from effort used in July, and so on.
	
		
			 Month of 2012 Percentage of increase (%) 
			 January 0 
			 February 0 
			 March 0 
			 April 0 
			 May 0 
			 June 1 
			 July 25 
			 August 15 
			 September 16 
			 October 9 
			 November 34 
			 Total January to November 100

India

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on (a) the number of people in prison in India who have been sentenced to death and (b) the proportion of those sentenced to death who are (i) Sikh and (ii) political prisoners.

Hugo Swire: Publically available figures indicate that there are 476 individuals who have been sentenced to death in India. The Government has received no reports on the breakdown of this figure by religion.
	It is the long-standing policy of the British Government to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. While I was in New Delhi on 19 February, as part of the Prime Minister's delegation, I raised our concerns with Ranjan Mathai, the Foreign Secretary at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. The British Government will also continue to make its position clear to the Indian Government, both bilaterally and through the EU, and urge them to introduce a formal moratorium with a view to eventual abolition of the death penalty.
	I refer the hon. Member to the debate on the ‘Death Penalty (India)’ on 28 February 2013, Official Report, columns 492-529.

Plants

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees in each year from 2005 to 2010.

David Lidington: Our central records show the following spend on plants and trees in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) UK estate for the years 2005-08 (to provide information for the FCO's overseas network would incur disproportionate cost):
	
		
			  £ 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 527 
			 2007 1,824 
			 2008 4,588 
		
	
	In December 2008, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) entered into a centrally managed facilities management contract with Interserve FM. The contract provides for the maintenance and replacement of plants and trees already in situ at no additional cost to the Department. Costs for the provision of additional trees and plants on the FCO's UK estate in 2009-10 were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009 0 
			 2010 2,720 
		
	
	In addition, the following was spent on plants and plant stands for high profile international events at Lancaster House for the years 2008-10 (there is no record available for spend at Lancaster House previous to 2008):
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008 1,555 
			 2009 645 
			 2010 870

Syria

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the statement of 6 March 2013, Official Report, columns 961-4, on Syria, who will conduct the training of armed groups on their responsibilities and obligations under international law; who will be eligible for such training; and how such training will be funded.

William Hague: As I announced on 6 March to Parliament, we will be reinforcing to the Syrian opposition their obligations to respect human rights and international humanitarian law by providing training from international non-governmental experts in the law of armed conflict and appropriate conduct. This will be carried out in close coordination with the Syrian National Coalition who will play an active role in selecting participants. We take great care in identifying the recipients of our assistance to ensure that they are legitimate members of the opposition. The training is being funded from the Government's tri-departmental Conflict Pool (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development).

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints were made about delays in awarding compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Helen Grant: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) received 155 complaints in 2010-11 and 91 complaints in 2011-12 where delay was the primary reason for complaint. Throughout this time CICA were dealing with approximately 50,000 active cases, meaning the ratio of complaints to cases is extremely low.

Drugs: Prosecutions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury of 18 December 2012, Official Report, column 717W, on drugs: prosecutions, if he will provide a breakdown of the data requested by police force for each of the last 10 years or for as many years as possible within the cost constraints of this question.

Oliver Heald: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is not available in the form requested but tables containing a breakdown of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) figures by CPS areas have been placed in the Library of the House. Data to support this request is available only from the financial year 2007-08.
	Supply and possession of drugs offences are prosecuted under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The records held by the CPS identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. The tables therefore show the number of offences, rather than defendants, charged for supply and possession offences for the last five complete financial years. Offences for possession with intent to supply have been separated out for clarity. A single defendant may be charged with more than one offence.

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many employers were prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2011 (latest available), can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication in May 2013
	
		
			 Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences related to employing illegal immigrants, England and Wales, 2010-11(1,2) 
			 Offence description 2010 2011 
			 Employing a person aged 16 and above subject to immigration controll(3) 5 2 
			 Employing a person knowing that they are an adult subject to immigration control(4) 8 2 
			 Employing accession state national subject to worker authorisation in accession period(5) 1 0 
			 (1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences It is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) An offence under section 8 Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, amended Asylum and Immigration Act 2004. (4) An offence under s.21 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (5) Offence under R12(1)(b) and (6) Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Official Secrets Act 1989

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will hold discussions with the (a) intelligence agencies, (b) Crown Prosecution Service and (c) Sentencing Board on increasing the tariff for breaches of the Official Secrets Act.

Helen Grant: The Government is satisfied that the maximum penalties available for the relevant offences give the courts sufficient powers to deal with the cases which come before them. Tough maximum penalties are available for offences under the Official Secrets Act, with up to 14 years' custody for the most serious cases. We have no plans to discuss these matters with the intelligence agencies, Crown Prosecution Service or Sentencing Council.

Prisoner Escapes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders who have absconded from prisons remain at large; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: As of 8 February 2013, 85 prisoners of the 3,706 prisoners who absconded from prison between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2012 remain unlawfully at large.
	Absconds have been falling for nearly two decades. In 2011-12—the last full year when figures were available—there were just 179 absconds compared to 956 in 1995-96 which equates to a 81% reduction.
	The majority of prisoners are recaptured and returned to custody quickly, 92% are recaptured within six months. To date, over 97% of prisoners who absconded between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2012 have been re-captured and returned to custody. On re-capture the prisoner will be returned to a closed prison and referred to the police for consideration for prosecution for having been unlawfully at large.

Probation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the average number of meetings was between probation staff and offenders on licence who were originally sentenced for (a) murder, (b) rape, (c) violence against a person, (d) burglary, (e) sexual offences against a minor, (f) theft and (g) criminal damage to property during the first (i) zero to six, (ii) seven to 12, (iii) 13 to 18, (iv) 19 to 24 and (v) 25 to 36 months of their probation in each probation trust area in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average number of days was between release from prison and first engagement with a member of the probation staff in each probation trust area in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Probation staff are required to record meetings with offenders on the case management IT system for their trust as part of their day to day management of offenders. However, there is no central report that would provide the data that has been requested and to answer the question would require each trust to interrogate its database to provide a report for NOMS. These data would then have to be reconciled and collated centrally.

Probation

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his reasons are for recommending a reduction in the number of probation areas to 16 prior to outsourcing of probation work.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's consultation on plans for reforming the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in the community closed on 22 February.
	The consultation document proposes that rehabilitation services are commissioned within 16 geographical contract package areas. Our premise is driven by the need to achieve economies of scale and avoid undue complexity and duplication, while also ensuring areas are large enough to support 'through the gate' provision and facilitate Payment by Results.
	We have also consulted on how best to structure the public sector probation service so it is organised in the most efficient manner to delivery its new responsibilities.
	These are important issues and we will be looking carefully at responses to the consultation to ensure we get the details right. The response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Reoffenders: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of reoffending rates of prisoners resident in (a) Barrow and Furness constituency and (b) South Lakeland in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Jeremy Wright: In response to a Ministry of Justice consultation in 2010 on improvements to reoffending statistics, proven reoffending data is only produced at the regional, probation area and local authority level and not at constituency level.

Child Care Tax Credit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been successfully prosecuted for fraudulent child care tax credit claims when no longer using the child care hours or provider stated on their application in each of the last five years.

Sajid Javid: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland (PPSNI).
	Figures for all tax credit offences including those conducted and prosecuted with or on behalf of another Government Department are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Prosecution Conviction 
			 2012-13 to date 64 76 
			 2011-12 71 68 
			 2010-11 17 21 
			 2009-10 (1)66 (2)65 
			 2008-09 (1)96 (2)76 
			 (1) Cases (2) Individuals 
		
	
	HMRCs management information does not include a breakdown to the level of information requested for individuals prosecuted for tax credit offences. To gather this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	Prosecution and conviction figures in any given year do not necessarily relate to the same individuals due to timing and length of case. Prosecutions in earlier years were recorded on a case basis; a case may contain more than one individual.

Child Trust Fund

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent banks from imposing charges on child trust fund accounts.

Sajid Javid: Since the Child Trust Fund started, it has been possible for account providers to make charges for the management of accounts, providing the details are made clear in the account terms and conditions. Around three quarters of all Child Trust Funds are stakeholder accounts, and charges on these accounts must not exceed 1.5% of the fund value.
	The Child Trust Fund rules allow transfers between different providers and account types.

Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of household debt was in each region in each year for which figures are available.

Sajid Javid: In the UK National Accounts the most appropriate measure of household debt is the total financial liabilities of the Household and Non Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) combined sector. Although the sectors are not split, NPISH (which includes for example, charities, trade unions and churches) makes up less than 5% of the total financial liabilities.
	Data for the total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector exists only at the UK national level and has a time series going back to 1987, as shown in Table 1.
	Annual data for 2012 is not yet available. Total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector in 2012Q3 was £1,538 billion.
	This data is published by the Office for National Statistics.
	
		
			 Table 1: Total financial liabilities of the Household and NPISH sector, final quarter of each year (apart from 2012) 
			  £ billion 
			 1987 270 
			 1988 323 
			 1989 372 
			 1990 418 
			 1991 450 
			 1992 469 
			 1993 486 
			 1994 508 
			 1995 532 
			 1996 552 
			 1997 589 
			 1998 628 
			 1999 677 
			 2000 734 
			 2001 810 
			 2002 922 
			 2003 1,049 
			 2004 1,182 
			 2005 1,256 
			 2006 1,413 
			 2007 1,521 
			 2008 1,550 
			 2009 1,533 
			 2010 1,541 
			 2011 1,529 
			 2012 (Q3) 1,538

Excise Duties: Fuels

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2013, Official Report, column 921W, on fuels: Wales, which other remote parts of the UK are being considered for the rural fuel discount scheme.

Sajid Javid: The Government is currently considering which remote parts of the UK are likely to display similar cost characteristics to the islands currently in the scheme.

PAYE

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to ensure that PAYE in real time has been tested on (a) businesses with fewer than 10 employees and (b) businesses with one employee.

David Gauke: As part of the development of PAYE real time information (RTI), HMRC have been running a pilot with employers. To date, there are over 28,000 employers in the pilot with nine or fewer employees, of which over 12,000 have one employee.
	HMRC have also commissioned independent research exploring the impact of RTI during the pilot. This research is looking at confidence levels, ease and the overall impact of RTI on the employers' businesses. The findings will be used in conjunction with a wider evaluation of the pilot, which will include an assessment of the impacts on HMRC.

VAT: Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the merits of introducing a reduced rate of VAT on visitor accommodation and attractions in line with the practice in some other EU member states in order to stimulate this sector of the UK economy.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 140W.

Access to Work Programme

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people participating in (a) the Work Programme and (b) Work Choice have received Access to Work support after finding employment in each quarter since the introduction of that scheme; and what proportion these people represent of the total number of people successfully supported into work.

Esther McVey: We do not collect data on people leaving the Work programme into work and receiving Access to Work. For Work Choice we have data from October 2011 to October 2012 where 1,240 participants were supported by Access to Work.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether information supplied by his Department to recipients of the (a) winter fuel payment and (b) cold weather payment states the importance of getting appliances regularly checked and serviced by a gas-safe registered engineer and of purchasing a carbon monoxide alarm.

Steve Webb: Information on the importance of getting appliances regularly checked and serviced by a gas-safe registered engineer and of purchasing a carbon monoxide is not issued directly to recipients as part of the winter fuel payment/cold weather payment notification process.
	Customers can obtain further information from the Gas Safe Register (the Government appointed gas registration body) at:
	www.gassaferegister.co.uk

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much remains outstanding in child maintenance arrears in (a) Airdrie and Shotts and (b) Scotland in 2012.

Steve Webb: As of December 2012, outstanding arrears on cases where the Parent with Care resides in Airdrie and Shotts parliamentary constituency were £7,280,000. Outstanding arrears for the same period in Scotland overall was £331,150,000.
	Full details of all arrears owed in local authorities within Scotland are shown in the Regional Tables of the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics published at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/2012/csa_qtr_summ_stats_regional_dec12.xls

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what child support arrears are owed by non-resident parents to parents with care, by parliamentary constituency, in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: I will place in the Library a table that shows, as of December 2012, the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by non resident parents, and of this amount how much is owed to the Parent with Care, by the parliamentary constituency of the Parent with Care.
	Figures are sourced from the Agency's internal debt book so breakdowns will not match the general ledger figures published in the December 2012 Quarterly Summary of Statistics.

Community Care Grants: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was awarded in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency under each category of the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Steve Webb: Table 1 provides the expenditure by direction on Community Care Grants for residents in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is the Social Fund Budget Area covering Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency. The information requested is not available at constituency level.
	
		
			 Table 1: Community Care Grant Expenditure in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 Direction 4(a)(i) People moving out of institutional or residential care 384,500 362,700 
			 Direction 4(a)(ii) Helping people stay in the community 1,477,800 1,181,600 
			 Direction 4(a)(iii) Families under exceptional pressure 2,616,800 2,391,900 
			 Direction 4(a)(iv) Prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence 6,300 9,900 
			 Direction 4(a)(v) People setting up home as a planned programme of resettlement 284,500 210,000 
			 Direction 4(b) Travelling Expenses 73,900 50,300 
			 Total 4,843,900 4,206,500 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Data on Community Care Grants is not held by parliamentary constituency but by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area. The figures for the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area cover areas other than Kilmarnock and Loudoun. 3. The expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £100.

Community Care Grants: Kilmarnock

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items were awarded in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency under each category in the community care grant in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Steve Webb: Table 1 provides the number of items awarded under Community Care Grants for residents in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12. This is the Social Fund Budget Area covering Kilmarnock and Loudon constituency. The information requested is not available at constituency level and cannot be split down by direction.
	
		
			 Table 1: Community Care Grant items awarded in the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area in 2010-11 and 2011-12 
			  Number of items awarded 
			 2010-11 56,800 
			 2011-12 48,100 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. Data on Community Care Grants is not held by parliamentary constituency but by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area. The figures for the Inverness Social Fund Budget Area cover areas other than Kilmarnock and Loudoun. 3. All item figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. 4. These figures are the number of items awarded, not the number of awards. A person can receive more than one item per award.

Disability Living Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether existing claimants of disability living allowance will risk losing benefits if they fail to reapply for the personal independence payment and why there is no automatic migration;
	(2)  whether existing claimants of disability living allowance will risk losing benefits if they fail to reapply for personalised independence payment; and for what reason there is no automatic migration.

Esther McVey: Personal independence payment (PIP) has different entitlement criteria to disability living allowance (DLA) meaning that any current recipient of DLA invited to claim PIP will need to be assessed against the new criteria if they chose to claim. Where a DLA claimant is invited to claim PIP, but chooses not to do so, the outcome will be that their entitlement to DLA will end.
	Further details on the processes, outcomes and timetable for reassessing DLA claimants for PIP have been published on the Department's website: the Government response to the consultation on the detailed design of PIP:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-detailed-design-response.pdf
	and a reassessments and impacts briefing note:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on whether a claimant of employment and support allowance in the support group who is referred to the Work Choice Scheme will be reassessed in a work capability assessment.

Mark Hoban: Individuals placed in the Support Group of employment and support allowance (ESA) are those who face the greatest barriers to employment. They are not expected or mandated to undertake any work-related activity. However, should they wish to participate in work-related activity on a voluntary basis, the Government has put in place programmes such as the Work Choice Scheme, to provide individuals with the necessary tailored support to do so.
	Everyone who claims ESA will undergo periodic work capability assessments (WCAs) to ascertain whether they still meet the conditions for the benefit. When an individual has a WCA, the examining health care professional will give advice on when they should be assessed again. This advice is based on a likely improvement in the person's condition over a three to 18-month period. Where the condition is unlikely to change significantly in the longer term, cases will be looked at again at a later date, normally within two years. Being on the Work Choice Scheme has no bearing on the timing of future reassessment dates.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support is available to those in the support group of employment and support allowance who wish to voluntarily undertake employment support.

Mark Hoban: ESA claimants in the Support Group can access support from Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme on a voluntary basis.
	For claimants with more complex needs which cannot be met through the Work programme, they can access a range of specialist disability employment provision such as Work Choice and Access to Work.

Employment and Support Allowance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is given by his Department to disability employment advisers on situations in which people in the support group of employment and support allowance wish to undertake disability provisions and approaches them for their assistance.

Esther McVey: Disability employment advisers (DEA) are trained to work with claimants who face complex employment situations because of their disability or health condition. Operational guidance supports them identify and refer to any provision a claimant may be suitable for and this includes those in the ESA Support Group.

Habitual Residence Test

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he plans to make to the Habitual Residence Test for (a) citizens of the European Area entering the UK and (b) non-EU citizens entering the UK and seeking to access public services.

Mark Hoban: The Department is currently looking at ways of further strengthening the habitual residence test, and has robust rules and guidance on income related benefits.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Rotherham constituency (a) have been and (b) will be affected by the (i) housing benefit cap, (ii) social sector size criteria and (iii) benefit cap of £500; and what the average loss will be in each such case.

Steve Webb: The caps to local housing allowance (LHA) rates do not apply in Rotherham because the LHA rates in Rotherham are lower than the caps.
	The information for ii is not available at constituency level. Estimates at a national and regional level are available in the impact assessment at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	The social sector size criteria measure will come into effect from April 2013.
	The information for (iii) has been placed in the Library and can be found at:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1587/LibraryDocument125527.pdf
	Please note that as the benefit cap will be applied through a phased roll-out from 15 April 2013 and at a national level from 15 July 2013, at present no households have been affected by the cap. The figures are consistent with the impact assessment published on 16 July 2012. The figures in the table assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work programme before the cap is introduced.
	Please note that household numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Areas with fewer than 100 households affected are denoted by "..", as additional disclosure control has been applied to these areas. For this reason, figures will not sum to the total number of households affected in the July 2012 impact assessment for the household benefit cap. Due to these disclosure controls we are unable to state the average loss due to the benefit cap in this constituency.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people live in supported lodgings and are exempt for housing benefit purposes in (a) Garston and Halewood constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England;
	(2)  how many people aged 16 or 17 live in supported lodgings and are exempt for housing benefit purposes in (a) Garston and Halewood constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) England.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	The most recent information on the number of people in supported “exempt accommodation” is in the DWP research report No 714, “‘Exempt' and supported accommodation’, published in December 2010.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to reply to the letter dated 24 January 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs Jacquie Gray.

Mark Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), replied to the right hon. Member on 9 March 2013.

Mobility

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the support available to disabled people who require a large wheelchair accessible vehicle and as such face higher mobility costs due to low fuel efficiency of such vehicles.

Esther McVey: The Government has not made an assessment specifically on whether disabled people with wheelchair accessible vehicles have higher mobility costs due to low fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
	However, disabled people with wheelchair accessible vehicles are likely to be in receipt of disability living allowance which provides a contribution towards the extra costs of disability. Disability living allowance is flexible and recipients can spend the money in a way that best suits their needs.
	People in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance can chose to lease or purchase cars, powered wheelchairs and scooters through the Motability Scheme by using some or all of their benefit. In addition to the car or powered wheelchair/scooter, as part of the lease agreement, scheme customers receive insurance and maintenance on the vehicle, free of charge.
	The specialised vehicles fund, which Motability administers on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, can provide financial assistance towards the costs of complex vehicle adaptations.

Remploy

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements have been made for the disposal of any specialised equipment in Remploy factories.

Esther McVey: In Stage 1, Remploy advised that organisations had until the end of August 2012 to register an interest for any assets before they started the process of contacting relevant local organisations and advertising the assets more widely. For Stage 2, the business exit and asset disposal processes will run concurrently.
	The disposal of Remploy sites and any associated assets (including specialised equipment) is a matter for Remploy. Remploy are, as is the Department, under a duty to dispose of assets in a way that ensures best value for money whilst, where possible and practicable, seeking to maximise the employment opportunities for disabled people.
	Full details of how to register an interest have been made available on the Remploy website:
	www.remploy.co.uk

Social Fund

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the guidance made available by (a) local authorities in England, (b) the Welsh Government and (c) the Scottish Government to Jobcentre Plus decision-makers ahead of changes to the social fund in April 2013.

Steve Webb: We are working very closely with English local authorities and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales to support them in delivering their new schemes, including where they have developed their guidance, so that claimants can get timely access to the remaining support available from the Department and from the new provision in their communities.

Social Security Benefits

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 561W, on Social Security Benefits: Greater London, what the minimum (a) volume and (b) level of diversity is required in a local authority to make it a realistic preparation for the national roll-out of the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: The volume and diversity of households in the local authority areas selected for phased rollout are just two of the factors that determined the choice.
	The approach has to be based on the right package so that lessons are learned through a controlled test in a live environment. As such, it also needs to test all three local authority IT systems, be in one regional area, with bespoke account managers within the locations and in our delivery network. That provides us with the right conditions for testing and achieves value for money.

Universal Credit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact assessments have been completed by his Department on the effects of the non-categorisation of supported lodging schemes as exempt accommodation under universal credit regulations.

Steve Webb: None. The treatment of housing costs in respect of supported accommodation in universal credit is not different to that in housing benefit. The definition of supported exempt accommodation in universal credit remains the same as that in housing benefit.

Vacancies: North Yorkshire

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the most recent job vacancy figures for Thirsk, Malton and Filey are.

Mark Hoban: In the three months to November 2012, the most recent period for which data is currently available, in Thirsk and Malton constituency employers reported over 1,800 new vacancies to Jobcentre Plus (JCP). Not all vacancies in the area would have been recorded on the JCP system, as some will be advertised through other recruitment methods or through word of mouth. In addition, some jobseekers in the constituency will be looking at vacancies outside the immediate area.
	A new service, Universal Jobmatch (UJ), has now replaced the previous system through which employers reported vacancies to Jobcentre Plus. It is still a new system and while some statistics on vacancies available through UJ are published via the Directgov website:
	www.direct.gov.uk
	more detailed breakdowns, including by parliamentary constituency area, are not yet available. The intention is to have a broadly similar set of data available to that under the previous Jobcentre Plus vacancy system and we are working towards this.

Work Capability Assessment

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of work capability assessments on the well-being of people who have a lifelong serious medical condition.

Mark Hoban: There is strong evidence that work is good for physical and mental well-being, and that being out of work can contribute to poorer health and other negative outcomes. A claimant for whom a return to work is considered unlikely within two years will be reassessed after two years. This is because, even for claimants who are unlikely to see an improvement in their health and who are unlikely to sufficiently adapt to their condition, it is important that we do not write them off completely.
	We recognise though that asking customers to attend an unnecessary examination is in no one's interests. For those whose condition is likely to qualify them for the Support Group, healthcare professionals (HCPs) will, where possible, advise using the available paper-based evidence. Only when there is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation would the HCP call a customer to attend a face-to-face assessment.

Chequers

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 57W, on Chequers, whether he was accompanied by his special advisers or other departmental officials on his visit to Chequers.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	It is long standing Government practice not to provide further details of such meetings.

Children: Custody

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward amendments to the Children and Families Bill to provide for a non-resident parent to have more than every other weekend as the standard contact arrangement with their children; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government recognises that, in most cases, a child benefits from the involvement of both parents. The Children and Families Bill reflects this. However, in making decisions about the care of child, the welfare of the child concerned must always be the courts' paramount consideration. Any steps to pre-determine a specific level of contact between a child and a parent would undermine this principle. For that reason, the Government does not intend to amend the Bill to provide for this.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will introduce a quality assurance mark for national curriculum learning resources.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	There are no plans at present to introduce a quality assurance mark for national curriculum resources. Head teachers are best placed to know how the new national curriculum will be implemented in their schools, and it is for these professionals to identify and access the learning resources that they think will be needed for them and their pupils.
	Throughout the process of the national curriculum review we have been working with a range of stakeholders—including publishers, educational suppliers, teaching schools and subject associations—to ensure that high quality support is available to schools when the new curriculum is introduced.

Curriculum

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken to publish final programmes of study and full assessment criteria on the timely publication of high quality learning resources.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Throughout the process of the national curriculum review we have maintained close contact with a range of stakeholders—including publishers, educational suppliers, teaching schools and subject associations—to ensure that high quality support and learning resources are available to schools when the new curriculum is introduced. Therefore, both publishers and suppliers are ready to supply new textbooks and educational resources to schools in time for the introduction of the new curriculum in September 2014. Many of these companies are already talking to schools about their products and how these can be used to support the introduction of the new curriculum.

First Aid: Education

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment Ofsted has made of the prevalence of teaching of life-saving skills in schools; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 27 February 2013
	Your recent Parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
	Since 2005, maintained school inspections have been carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005, and more recently the Education Act 2011. The teaching of life-saving skills is not a feature of section 5 inspections, so Ofsted has not conducted an assessment of the prevalence of this in schools. Inspectors do, however, make a separate judgement about the behaviour and safety of pupils in the school as part of each inspection.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to David Laws MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Freedom of Information

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2013, Official Report, column 396W, on Freedom of Information Act 2000, whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have been consulted as a qualified person under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on responses to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the hon. Member for West Bromwich East made since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 March 2013
	Yes, as is required by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

GCE A-level

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of students taking (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics at A-level.

Elizabeth Truss: The percentage of A level students who entered biology in 2011/12 was 19.7%. The equivalent figure for chemistry was 15.7% and for physics was 11.0%. These percentages relate to candidates in all schools and FE sector colleges who were entered for A levels in summer 2012.

GCSE

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of schools which offer split sciences at GCSE level.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not hold information on the subjects offered by schools but does have data on the subjects that pupils were entered for. Data underlying the School Performance Tables show that 85% of mainstream schools had entries in biology, chemistry and physics GCSEs or regulated iGCSEs by pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2011/12. Only mainstream schools (including independent schools) published in the 2012 Secondary School Performance Tables having more than five pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 are included in this answer.

Schools: Vending Machines

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to limit the number of junk food vending machines in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 492W. The decision as to whether or not to use vending machines rests with individual schools. Vending machines can be used to sell healthy food, and can be useful to schools during busy lunch periods, and for events which take place after the end of the school day.
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced on 4 July 2012 that he had asked Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, the co-founders of Leon restaurants, to lead independent work to examine school food across the country. They have since been developing a school food plan looking at good practice across the UK and abroad, drawing heavily on input from sector bodies, existing campaign groups, local authorities, caterers, parents and schools. Mr Dimbleby and Mr Vincent are putting together an action plan which will build on the successes of the past seven years, accelerate the improvements in school food, and define the role schools have to play in shaping eating habits. This is so that all children eating in English schools are offered good food and given an education that cultivates in them an understanding of food and nutrition. The review will report in 2013.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children with special educational needs have adequate choice in further education;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure choice in post-18 education for students with special educational needs.

Edward Timpson: The Children and Families Bill, published on 4 February, will help improve the range of choice for young people with special educational needs in further education and for their parents.
	The Bill aims to give young people with special educational needs the right to ask to attend a particular further education, sixth form or independent specialist college and for that institution to admit them, unless it is unsuitable for the young person, does not represent good value for money or would impact negatively on the education of others. Our reforms will also ensure that colleges are more closely involved in arranging local provision for young people with special educational needs through the local offer and co-operation duties. The Bill intends to enable personal budgets to be offered to young people who want to take them up, giving young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan and their parents much greater choice and control over how their support is delivered.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether the status of an education, health and care plan will change when a child reaches the age of 16;
	(2)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill the proposed review of support for young people with special educational needs at risk of becoming NEET will only happen at the point at which they finish compulsory education;
	(3)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill a young person aged 19 to 25 who is not in education would be able to request an assessment for an education, health and care plan at any point before their 25th birthday.

Edward Timpson: The status of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan does not change when a child reaches the age of 16 and will continue to be reviewed as a minimum every 12 months. Local authorities will work with young people to ensure EHC plans anticipate and plan for key transition points so that young people do not reach the end of any phase of their education without being clear where they are going next and what support they will receive.
	Regulations made under the Children and Families Bill will ensure that local authorities maintain an EHC plan of any young person that is not in education, employment or training (NEET) while of compulsory participation age. They will also ensure that local authorities, review the EHC plan of a 19 to 25-year-old at the point they become NEET, and maintain support where re-engaging that young person in education or training is the best possible option for them.
	Any young person without an EHC plan can request an assessment for one at any point before their 25th birthday. Where the young person is aged over 18 the local authority must take their age into account when determining whether an EHC plan is appropriate.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether under the provisions of the Children and Families Bill a young person aged 16 to 25 with special educational needs on an apprenticeship would be able to request an education, health and care assessment;
	(2)  how he intends that education, health and care plans should operate for young people on apprenticeships.

Edward Timpson: Any young person without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan can request an assessment for one at any point before their 25(th) birthday, including while on an apprenticeship. Where the young person is aged over 18 the local authority must take their age into account when determining whether an EHC plan is appropriate.
	An Education, Health and Care plan for a young person undertaking an apprenticeship will identify the long and short term outcomes they are seeking and the special educational, health and social care provision required to help them achieve those outcomes. The local authority will work closely with the young person, their learning provider and other interested parties to agree the content of their plan.
	Further guidance about EHC plans will be included in Regulations and the 0-25 Code of Practice.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent progress he has made on the carbon capture and storage pilot projects.

John Hayes: I know the hon. Member has a particular interest in carbon capture and storage, with one of the shortlisted bidders (Captain Clean Energy) located in Grangemouth.
	The Government is absolutely committed to carbon capture and storage. Our £1 billion commercialisation programme aims to support practical experience of commercial scale CCS and drive forward this important industry. The competition is progressing well and we will be making further announcements this spring.

Electricity

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to ensure that energy service companies delivering permanent and verifiable savings of electricity use can participate in capacity mechanisms on a fair and equivalent basis to generation.

Gregory Barker: One option in the Electricity Demand Reduction consultation on options to encourage permanent reductions in electricity use was to include Electricity Demand Reduction in the Capacity Market; the capacity market powers in part 2 of the Energy Bill already allow for this by allowing "reducing demand for electricity" to be treated as a form of capacity. Following the close of the Electricity Demand Reduction consultation on 31 January, the responses are being analysed and a decision on the way forward will be taken shortly.

Energy: Prices

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of increases in (a) domestic and (b) business energy bills arising from the use of renewable energy sources for each of the last five years.

John Hayes: The renewables obligation (RO) and small-scale feed-in-tariff scheme (FITs) place the obligation of supporting investment in renewable electricity generation on energy suppliers. It is assumed that energy suppliers will pass the cost of these obligations onto their various energy customers (ie households and businesses) through their electricity bills.
	Ofgem publish annual reports for both the RO and FITs which include actual cost data. The last year for which data is available is 2011-12. The estimated average amount added directly to domestic and non-domestic electricity bills is shown in Table 1.
	Household estimates are based on annual costs of the RO and FITs from annual reports published by Ofgem(1) multiplied by the share of total UK electricity sales accounted for by households(2) divided by the number of UK households(3). The actual cost of the RO and FITs on each household's energy bill in a given year may differ depending on how energy suppliers pass on the costs of the policy to their customers.
	Non-domestic estimates are based on an illustrative energy user with final electricity consumption of 11,000 MWh per year.
	RO banding levels may be reviewed every four years to ensure that support levels are set as cost-effectively as possible and deliver good value for money to consumers. The review for the period 2013-17 concluded last year and new bands will take effect from 1 April subject to state aid approval.
	To help ensure that policies achieve their objectives cost effectively and affordably the Government introduced a framework to control levy funded spending by DECC at Budget 2011. This framework, which includes the RO and FITs, forms part of the Government's public spending framework which the Treasury has responsibility for.
	
		
			 Table 1: Estimated annual impact of the renewables obligation and feed-in-tariff on domestic and non-domestic electricity bills 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Real 2011-12 prices £ % £ % £ % £ % £ % 
			 Households           
			 RO 13 2 15 2 17 3 18 3 19 3 
			 FITs — — — — — — 0.2 <0.5 2 <0.5 
		
	
	
		
			 Medium-sized business user(4)           
			 RO 32,000 4 38,000 4 42,000 4 46,000 5 53,000 5 
			 FITs — — — — — — 500 <0.5 5,000 0.5 
			 (1) Calculated according to the DECC-HMT definition of RO support costs, ie RO support cost for year = obligation level for year (in ROCs) x RO buyout price for year. (2) Energy Trends table 5.5, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/electricity-statistics (3) CLG projections. (4 )Final electricity consumption of 11,000 MWh. Note: Numbers rounded.

Solar Power

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on the total (a) number and (b) installed capacity of small solar schemes below the permitted development threshold in the UK.

Gregory Barker: There is no specific threshold for permitted development of solar in the UK. Permitted development is based on criteria, which can be found (for England) at:
	http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/solarpanels/
	(criteria may vary for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
	As such, DECC does not hold information on the total number and installed capacity of permitted development solar schemes. However, it does hold information on the overall number and installed capacity of solar schemes, as well as the number and installed capacity of solar schemes that have been through the planning process (permitted developments are not required to go through the planning process).
	As at the end of September 2012, there was 1,582 MW of operational installed capacity of solar schemes in the UK, covering around 361,000 installations(1). Of this, 194 MW of installed capacity, across 143 schemes, had been through the planning process.
	(1) Number of solar photovoltaic installations accredited on the GB Feed in Tariff scheme—which covers the majority of schemes in the UK—as at the end of January 2013.
	Sources:
	1. Total UK solar photovoltaic installed capacity: Energy Trends December 2012, table ET6.1:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/renewables-statistics
	2. Number of solar photovoltaic installations: monthly central Feed in Tariff statistics:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-central-feed-in-tariff-register-statistics
	3. Number and installed capacity of non-permitted solar photovoltaic schemes:
	Renewable Energy Planning Database:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Wind Power

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind farms have been built (a) onshore and (b) offshore in the last three months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Based on the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD), which tracks renewable developments through the planning system(1), the number of wind farms that have become fully operational over the past three months is:
	(a) Onshore:
	November 2012: seven
	December 2012: one
	January 2013: one.
	(b) Offshore: Nil
	(1 )https://restats.decc.gov.uk/app/reporting/decc/monthlyextract

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to sell his Department's headquarters in Whitehall and move to cheaper premises in outer London.

Mark Francois: As part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) rebasing programme, all potential options to make cost savings have been investigated, including looking at the MOD buildings in Whitehall. The MOD intends to vacate the Old War Office during financial year 2014-15 and the Government is currently examining options to re-use the building.

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maintenance costs were for his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: Fully serviced office accommodation in Ministry of Defence Main Building and the Old War Office is provided under a 30 year private finance initiative (PFI) contract signed in 2000 by the previous Administration. The contract payments reflect the costs for both sites, a service element and the repayment of the bank debt under the terms of the PFI credit agreements. Given this, the maintenance costs for Main Building cannot be separately identified.
	However, the total cost of the contract for each of the periods requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2010-11 81.6 
			 2011-12 82.4 
			 2012-13 85.3

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of heating his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: Ministry of Defence (MOD) Main Building is supplied with high-temperature hot water from the Whitehall District Heating System (WDHS) and is used to provide heating and domestic hot water throughout the building.
	Due to the metering arrangements and nature of the agreement with the WDHS supplier, only the combined cost of heating and domestic hot water can be provided, for the periods requested and are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 201011 0.99 
			 2011-12 0.73 
			 2012-13 (estimated) 1.3 
		
	
	Under the Government's transparency agenda, the MOD publishes real-time energy data for Main Building at
	http://www.ecodriver.uk.com/MOD/

Buildings

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of lighting his Department's headquarters in Whitehall in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Mark Francois: The cost of lighting the Ministry of Defence main building cannot be provided as it is not metered separately from other electrical equipment. However, the total cost of electricity in the periods requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
			 2010-11 1.51 
			 2011-12 1.74 
			 2012-13 (estimated) 2.25

Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to increase cyber defence capabilities.

Andrew Robathan: As we set out in the strategic defence and security review, we attach a high priority to the cyber-defence of our systems.
	We are taking steps to ensure our cyber defences can match the developing threat. As part of this we are investing in the Global Operations and Security Centre (GOSCC) at Corsham, which acts as our 24/7 defensive monitoring and management facility for cyber. The House of Commons Defence Committee recently recognised the GOSCC as a centre of excellence for good practice across Government. We are also working with our key industry partners to improve the cyber security of our supply chains.
	Under the Defence Cyber Security Programme we are raising the cyber awareness of Ministry of Defence civilian and armed forces personnel, as well as improving the ways in which we train and manage our key cyber professionals.
	I cannot comment further on the detail of the measures we take to protect our systems since to do so would risk compromising national security.

Future Large Aircraft

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been conducted by his Department into the need for air to air refuelling capability by the A400M aircraft.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has recently refreshed its study into Defence's requirements for air-to-air refuelling capability. This concluded that Voyager will meet all requirements; therefore, there is no need for an air-to-air refuelling capability by the A400M Atlas.

Germany

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what determination of damage or loss has been made by (a) UK and (b) German authorities in respect of the condition of property in UK military bases in Germany;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of any hazardous substance contamination of land in Germany by UK forces; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost of remedying any such contaminations;
	(3)  what restorative or balancing measures his Department has undertaken to avoid any environmental burden arising from the presence by UK military bases in Germany.

Andrew Robathan: The requirement for resolution of any environmental issues relating to the estate vacated by the British Forces in Germany (BFG) is detailed in the Supplementary Agreement to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement and the Ministry of Defence is committed to adhering to this in consultation with the German authorities.
	Negotiations are well under way with the German authorities for a final, settlement of all financial claims arising from the release of accommodation. Previous settlements were conducted on either an annual or, more latterly, an ad hoc basis and have hitherto always amounted in a net payment to the UK.
	The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, in conjunction with the Regulator and German authorities, conducts regular assessments of hazardous substance contamination on the BFG estate, and carries out such work as is necessary to remediate pollution on a day-to-day basis. Land quality assessments and risk assessments are available and shared with the German authorities when stations are closed.

Patrol Craft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make a decision on whether to build new offshore patrol vessels; and if he will make a statement.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 617W.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of the hon. Member for Ludlow of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 634W, on Porton Down: animal experiments, how his Department disposes of the bodies of animals that die in the experiments that take place at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down facility.

Philip Dunne: Deceased animals are sterilised as necessary and incinerated on site in compliance with nationally-recognised requirements under Health and Safety legislation.

Porton Down: Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of the hon. Member for Ludlow of 12 February 2013, Official Report, column 634W, on Porton Down: animal experiments, if he will provide details of the purposes of the experiments in which the animals were used at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Porton Down facility.

Philip Dunne: The animals that are utilised at DSTL Porton Down are involved in individual research studies that form part of the overall Ministry of Defence research programme to provide new and improved medical countermeasures to UK armed forces, to enhance the combat casualty care provision to service personnel and to help save lives.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what interventions on alcohol misuse linked to sexual health risks were piloted by his Department following the public health White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People.

Anna Soubry: the Department provided funding for three local areas to pilot three different approaches to interventions on alcohol misuse linked to sexual health risks. We are currently following up the pilots, and, working with Public Health England, we will then consider the findings and next steps.

Antibiotics

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce the over-prescription of antibiotics;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and (b) other regulatory bodies on promoting the synthesis of new antibiotics;
	(3)  with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report, what steps his Department is taking to tackle antimicrobial resistance;
	(4)  when he intends to publish the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy.

Anna Soubry: As set out in the Chief Medical Officer's report, we aim to take a cross-sectoral approach to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance and spread of infection. This will include good practice, prescribing decisions and encourage innovative approaches to new therapies.
	To support the need for new drugs, we are working collaboratively nationally and internationally to stimulate drug development in good time. For example, on an international basis we are exploring how to use the forthcoming World Health Organization Assembly and other routes, such as the G8 to promote international activity to stimulate, the antibiotic pipeline. Nationally, regulatory bodies, such as the Medicines and Healthcare-products Regulatory Agency will be involved in these discussions.
	We aim to publish the antimicrobial resistance plan in early summer.
	A copy of the Chief Medical Officer's report has been placed in the Library and can be accessed at:
	https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/publications/files/2013/03/CMO-Annual-Report-Volume-2-20111.pdf

Antibiotics

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that the Government plays a leading role in encouraging pharmaceutical companies to develop new (a) antibiotics and (b) other drugs; and if he will develop a long-term strategy to ensure that research and development of antibiotics is sustained at a level sufficient to predict and respond to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Daniel Poulter: The Government is taking a leading role and showing leadership in encouraging the development of new antibiotics and showing leadership through support for the strengthening of international partnerships and coalitions, such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative—a joint undertaking between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry. It is clear that progress on new development of antibiotics and other therapies will only happen if underpinned by collaboration at the international level.

Doctors

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to PQ 146775, how many doctors other than those graduating from United Kingdom medical schools were taken on by the NHS in 2012; and how many doctors from abroad were allocated to foundation programmes commencing in August 2012.

Daniel Poulter: An annual census of medical staff is undertaken which shows the current number of doctors employed in the national health service and where they qualified—either within the United Kingdom/within the remainder of the European economic area (EEA), outside the EEA or in an unknown country of qualification. However, the census does not show when they joined the work force.
	There were 7,089 Foundation Programme places for FP 2012. 222 graduates from non-UK medical schools were allocated a place. Of the 6,867 who graduated from UK medical schools a proportion will be students from overseas but the Department does not hold this figure. All UK medical graduates received a place on a Foundation Programme in 2012.

General Practitioners

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs per head of population there were in (a) 1983 and (b) the latest date for which information is available.

Daniel Poulter: The number of general practitioners (GPs) per 100,000 population working in the national health service in England in 1983 and 2011 is shown in the following table.
	The information is collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
	
		
			 General practitioners: Headcount per head of population in England: 1983 and 2011 
			 Headcount 
			  1983 2011(2) 
			 General practitioners(1) 23,717 35,415 
			 General practitioners(1) per 100,000 population 50.7 66.7 
			 (1) GP figures in 1983 include all GPs excluding trainees/registrars. 2011 figures include all GPs excluding retainers and registrars. GP registrars were first recorded in 1999 and have been omitted for comparability purposes. Data as at 1 October 1983 and 30 September 2011 (2) Headcount Methodology: The new headcount methodology from 2010 onwards means this data is not fully comparable with previous years, due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication: https://catalogue.ic.nhs.uk/publications/workforce/numbers/nhs-staf-2001-2011-gene-prac/nhs-staf-2001-2011-gene-prac-work-rep.pdf Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: 1. The Health and Social Care Information Centre care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. 2. Office for National Statistics, Mid-1983 Population Estimates, revised in light of the results of the 2001 Census. 3. Office for National Statistics, 2011 Final Population Estimates (2011 census based).

Genito-urinary Medicine

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the public health White Paper, Healthy Lives Healthy People, when he plans to publish the results of an evidence review for sexual health.

Anna Soubry: The Department carried out a review of the evidence for the effectiveness of various sexual health interventions in 2010. We are currently considering how the review could be updated and published to help to support local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and the NHS Commissioning Board fulfil the responsibilities for commissioning sexual health services which they will assume on 1 April 2013.

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to NHS Commissioners on (a) assessing and (b) defining patients interests for the purpose of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Anna Soubry: From April 2013, clinical commissioning groups, (CCGs) will assume statutory responsibility for commissioning the majority of health care services. The NHS Act 2006, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, places strong duties on CCGs to ensure the involvement of public and patients in the commissioning of services. It will be for the NHS Commissioning Board to support CCGs and hold them to account, including, for example, by providing supportive commissioning resources, tools or guidance. The Board's website contains specific resources for CCGs on public and patient engagement which are available at:
	www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs

Healthwatch England

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what transitional arrangements are in place between the end of local involvement networks and the establishment of Healthwatch; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which areas an individual Healthwatch will cover;
	(3)  which body will have responsibility for patient representation in rural areas; and how any such body will be staffed and resourced.

Norman Lamb: Local Healthwatch organisations will be set up in each top-tier local authority area from 1 April to help to ensure patients, service users, their families and carers as well as the wider community have the opportunity to have their say, make their views known about local services and to have their interests represented with commissioners and providers of services. Staffing and resources are matters for local decision.
	No single organisation is responsible for patient representation in rural areas. Rather a number of organisations have roles and responsibilities to ensure that patients and the public can have a say in how their local services are run; Healthwatch is one of these alongside, for example, local authorities and clinical commissioning groups.
	In terms of transition, we are confident that at least 95% of local authorities will have a local Healthwatch in place on 1 April. In the small number of areas where the Local Government Association has identified concerns, they have been working to provide additional support, helping each of the local authorities to commission services and develop contingency plans to make sure that people who use health and social care services will continue to be represented beyond April.
	During the course of 2012-13 the Department has worked with voluntary sector organisations, local government, local involvement networks (LINks), the Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch England to raise awareness of the importance of capturing the LINks' legacy and making good practice available to local Healthwatch organisations going forward.

Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will name the Polish meat plant identified by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland as the source of the horsemeat found in UK burgers; and which company owns it.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency has advised that it is aware of a number of Polish companies being named in the media and of interest to Food Safety Authority of Ireland investigations but it would be inappropriate to comment as there is an on-going investigation in the United Kingdom as well as other member states.

Infectious Diseases

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Chief Medical Officer's Annual Report, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the threat of infectious diseases.

Anna Soubry: The establishment of Public Health England will be a key development in our plan to mitigate the threat of infectious disease. Public Health England will deliver specialist public health services to national and local government, the national health service and the public, working in partnership, to protect the public and minimise the health impacts from infectious diseases.
	Comprehensive national immunisation programmes are in place to tackle vaccine preventable infectious diseases, which are kept under review by the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
	Equally importantly, work is under way on a cross-Government basis to mitigate the threat of antimicrobial resistance. This will include good practice, prescribing decisions and encourage innovative approaches to new therapies.

NHS: Redundancy

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS staff have been made redundant and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations on a (a) permanent basis and (b) fixed-term contract basis since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The number of NHS staff made redundant in the NHS since 1 May 2010 and subsequently re-employed by NHS organisations on a (a) permanent basis is estimated to be 1,300 and (b) fixed term contract basis is estimated to be 900.
	These estimates are based on staff recorded on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse as having a reason for leaving as either voluntary or compulsory redundancy between 1 May 2010 and 30 September 2012, and who have a subsequent record on the ESR Data Warehouse up to 30 November 2012.
	In April 2010 there were 42,515 full-time equivalent (FTE) managers. Between April 2010 and November 2012 this figure has reduced by 6,905 to 35,610 FTE.
	The ESR Data Warehouse is a monthly snapshot of the live ESR system. This is the HR and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and some NHS staff who have transferred to local authorities and social enterprises.